JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
A concept development conference for Exercise Southern Vanguard 2024 took place with Brazilian Army planners at U.S. Army South Headquarters March 7-9, 2022.
Exercise Southern Vanguard is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored, U.S. Army South-conducted exercise at the operational and tactical levels designed to increase interoperability between U.S. and Western Hemisphere forces. Exercise Southern Vanguard 2024, which will occur in the Fall of 2023, is aimed at improving combined readiness between U.S. Army and Brazilian Army forces.
“During the concept development conference, we are laying out the framework for the exercise to identify the exact location, duration, and the specific units that will participate in the training,” said Manuel Garces, Army South scenario planner G-7 Training and Exercises. “So we end up working together with the ultimate goal of interoperability, and we continue to maintain, and strengthen the relationship between the U.S. and Brazil.”
In December 2021, U.S. Army and Brazilian Army forces conducted Southern Vanguard 2022 in Lorena, São Paulo, Brazil, which was the largest U.S. element to conduct combined training with Brazil since World War II.
Brazilian Army Col. Alessandro Pinho, chief of the Brazilian Army Land Operations Command, said the main difference between the second iteration of Southern Vanguard is the change of environment.
“Southern Vanguard 22 was held in São Paulo, an urban environment, but the next one will be held in a jungle environment in the northern region of Brazil,” Pinho said. “It will be more challenging for us and the U.S. Army to manage the exercise there, but it will also be very useful training.”
Based on the complexity and scale of this operational exercise, planning takes place years in advance.
“I think both countries, the U.S. and Brazil, have main core values," Pinho said. “This kind of exercise is a good opportunity to improve our interoperability, our partnership, our friendship, and it is very useful for us to operate together in case of regional crisis and to solve regional problems.”
Southern Vanguard is a rotating exercise that Army South conducts with partner nations in Central and South America. The next iteration, Exercise Southern Vanguard 2023, will take place in Colombia with U.S. Army and Colombian Army forces.